December 29, 2014

5 Insights From The SEC Whistleblower Program Annual Report That Will Impact 2015
2014 showed a record growth of tips and complaints submitted to the SEC whistleblower program (over 10%), matched with a record number of awards. ... The SEC has authorized 14 whistleblowers to receive awards since the inception of the program, but 9 of these were in 2014. A partner with law firm Proskauer Rose L.L.P. in Chicago, Steven J. Pearlman, commented on the growth trend mentioned in the report, “I think that we would expect to see for the fiscal year 2015 report is another increase, and probably a marked increase, because of the $30 million award. The concern from an employer perspective is that this may very well lead to a lottery-playing dynamic.”


Amazon’s 2014 Holiday Sees Mobile Shopping Approach 60% Of Total Volume
Last year, Amazon reported that more than half of its customers were using mobile devices to shop, so there’s relatively little change with this year’s total only ‘approaching’ 60 percent. Still, both represent a huge change from prior holiday shopping seasons, indicating that transactions on mobile devices is becoming the default option, and that this isn’t just a fleeting fad or freak occurrence. Amazon’s Prime membership increase is likely the Christmas gift Jeff Bezos is most excited about, as their premium service tier is arguably the key to the company’s long-term strategy, as well as its revenue and profitability goals.


The Cost Of Healthcare Data Access
Reading this might already be alarming some business leaders out there. Some clinicians might argue that better shielded data could hurt patients. But wait, hear me out. I'm not proposing a SIPRNet for healthcare. I'm suggesting that first we must assess whether the efficiency of anywhere, anytime access to data is worth the risk of harm to our organizations and even to us personally, should armed assailants target us. Curbing remote access to data that isn't needed remotely is a great first step. Second, I'd like to call for new information delivery technologies capable of differentiating between internal and external access, and behaving accordingly so that large quantities of data can't be accessed from outside our protected networks.


Technology That Took Us a Step Back
Recently Reddit asked if you could erase one discovery or invention, what would it be. Some of the non techie ones included: Land mines, leaded petrol, napalm, children's beauty pageants, one-ply toilet paper, glitter, 24 hour news networks and reality television. In this slideshow we pluck out a few techie-related ones. Add to the list in the comments section below.


HP named leader in 1st Magic Quadrant for Deduplication Backup Appliances
Gartner published its first ever Magic Quadrant for Deduplication Backup Target Appliances to help storage professional’s short list vendors. We believe that this report is a testament to a growing recognition that backup and recovery is the next critical frontier in data center modernization. In the report, Gartner positioned HP within the Leaders Quadrant with only one other vendor. I want to share with you our take on the reasons why. “By 2018, 50% of applications with high change rates will be backed up directly to deduplication target appliances, bypassing the backup server, up from 10% today.”*


Cloud and analytics are forcing data center transformation
“High-performance computing, which used to be a bit of a niche market, is becoming mainstream as more people want to crunch their data. So this is blowing new life into HPC while the cloud is driving an all new model for compute,” Andreoli told theCUBE host Dave Vellante. As organizations adopt different approaches to implementing that model, HP is adding variety to its server portfolio. Most traditional enterprises are taking the converged infrastructure route, replacing their dis-aggregated architectures with integrated modules that combine hardware building blocks into a single chassis with built-in management software to reduce administrative overhead.


Five Rules for Strategic Partnerships in a Digital World
Partnerships have always been a critical strategy for businesses looking to grow in unfamiliar markets, tap new customer segments, or sell additional products or services. They have also always been notoriously tricky to make work. Too bad, because in today’s hypercompetitive, hyper-connected marketplace, partnerships have taken on even greater strategic importance and complexity. Both business-to-consumer and business-to-business companies are in an arms race to develop innovative user experiences, expand distribution, and capture new sources of monetization.


New Congress may move swiftly to raise H-1B cap
There is no certainty that these efforts to raise the H-1B cap will succeed, and it's possible that acrimony with the White House over immigration will derail action on an H-1B-specific bill. Another factor in the mix might be former Florida governor Jeb Bush, who may be about the closest thing to an announced candidate for the Republican presidential nomination that his party has right now. If Congress takes up any immigration issue, he may speak out. Bush, who recently announced on Facebook that he has "decided to actively explore the possibility of running for President of the United States," is a strong advocate for raising the H-1B cap, much like his brother, former President George W. Bush.


Six IT nightmares that will keep us all awake at night
Are you looking forward to 2015? I know I am. 2014 was okay, but I will definitely be glad to leave it in the past. But as we look forward to 2015, the lessons and experiences of 2014 will haunt us IT folks. So whether you're a CEO, CTO, CIO, CMO, CDO, CFO, CXO, IT manager or just a rank-and-file engineer, here's a list of what's going to cause nightmares and what we'll be cleaning up throughout the upcoming year.


Innovation Machine
Traditional financial accounting is a great way to run a business — and the most efficient way to kill new ideas. We have to agree on a new framework for accounting against early-and-mid-stage businesses before they’ve gained enough traction to be measured on revenue. This framework is based on three phases of product development and Dave McClure’s Pirate Metrics. Each phase has it’s own set of metrics that matter. “Do you have a problem worth solving?”



Quote for the day:

"Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing." -- Albert Schweitzer


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